<br>I believe that you've misinterpreted Robert Fisk's sarcasm in the way he phrased his comments. <br>I can be almost certain of that, because I've attended <br>2 talks he'd given at MIT and one in New York City, <br>and I can see that his writing and verbal styles aren't much different. But when he talks, his body language and variations in his voice make the message unequivocal.<br><br>For one thing, he is NOT a racist; this is a man who publicly talked about his father (who was with the British Army all his adult life) as being --disgracefully-- racist. <br>And in general, his opinions (as expressed in his new book) on how the British Empire handled affairs in its colonies would leave you without a doubt that he's not <br>a racist.<br><br>So this is what I think he meant to convey: He talked as if he was one typical racist westerner who thinks that the Arabs are primitive, stupid illiterate, with ugly and spooky physiques... so different from his superior
self..., <br>and who now sees that lebanese people don't fit this stereotype, <br>so he wonders how come so little is being done to help them, although they aren't any different from the superiors of the world. <br>In other words, that the Lebanese shouldn't trigger racism in the westerners (as they're not "different" from them), yet that they're being treated by the westerners in a racist-like way. Which he finds nonsensical and unacceptable of course!<br> --Randa<br><br><br><b><i>Philippe Charles Saad <philippesaad@gmail.com></i></b> wrote:<blockquote class="replbq" style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;"> This a shame!<br> What does this "they don't look like the Arab world" mean? Are Arabs Animals? 2nd degree human being? <br> what is this racizm?<br> What's wrong with the Arab world?<br> If we are sophisticated, educated, cosmopolitan... how does this tie to the fact that "we don't look like the Arab
world"<br> Aren't we tired of those cliches?<br> Ohh yeah Lebanese are not Arabs... what is all is nonsense! I won't even mention the whole stupid discourse of phoenicians!!<br> Who cares who we are Arabs, Phoenicians, meditteraneans, Greeks, maybe we have Romans, crusaders, kurdish or Indian blood! <br> Guys who cares, trade was all over the place and people were mixing all through teh ages<br> <br> If Robert Fiske did a good job reporting about the situation all a long the years of war, this does not mean that all what he says is sacred!! come on guys a little critical sense, a little pride.<br> Stop escaping what you are and mirror yourself to what you are not because Europeans or Americans have engrained in you the fact that they are a better race than Arabs, than chinese, than indians. No one is better than any other one.<br> <br> And now instead of all standing together and seeing our differences as a richness to stop Israel from bombing, we are abiding
by the argument that Lebanese are not like the Arabs.<br> What a shame, <br> I am disgusted....<br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 7/20/06, <b class="gmail_sendername">Rabih Zbib</b> <<a href="mailto:rabih@mit.edu">rabih@mit.edu</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"> <div>We are infinitely greatful for our dearest friend Robert Fisk for the privilige of elevating us to the rank of full human beings, much different than those other Arabs!<br> <br> <span style="font-style: italic;">It amazes me -- I mean, living here in Beirut, as I have for 30 years. Here are the Lebanese people, sophisticated, educated, cosmopolitan, people who don't look like the Arab world, they look like us; I mean, people who could be quite at home on the streets of Paris or New York and London, and some of them are; people who read, who are very well educated; people who speak
English fluently, French beautifully, and fluent Arabic, as well, of course; and who, when they die in such large numbers, the best we can produce is a call for restraint by the State Department and a claim by the British, our own dear Tony Blair, that the Israelis are using disproportionate force. </span><br style="font-style: italic;"> <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/07/19/1345257" title="http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/07/19/1345257" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"> http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/07/19/1345257</a></span><br> <br> <br> </div><br>_______________________________________________<br>Lebanon-Articles mailing list<br><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="mailto:Lebanon-Articles@mit.edu">Lebanon-Articles@mit.edu</a><br> <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"
href="http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/lebanon-articles" target="_blank">http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/lebanon-articles</a><br><br><br></blockquote> </div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Philippe Charles Saad<br>473 Adams Street, Apt 1<br>Dorchester, MA 02122<br>+1 617 230 6670<br><a href="mailto:psaad@alum.mit.edu">psaad@alum.mit.edu</a> _______________________________________________<br>Lebanon-Articles mailing list<br>Lebanon-Articles@mit.edu<br>http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/lebanon-articles<br></blockquote><br><p> 
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